This week's freebie should help your family with your own summer reading program (or to keep track of reading at any time).

One of the best things we've grown accustomed to each summer has been taking part in the summer reading program at our local library.

Initially, I wasn't sure I wanted to get involved in something like that. I didn't want my children only reading to win a prize, or get a sticker (though, at our library, you actually get a free pizza from Pizza Hut, among other things. Not the library I grew up with...). Instead, what happened was very positive. Though initially my children may have been reading for pizza and prizes, good fruit was borne out of the reading program.

• They became more proficient readers through practice.
• They better they could read (through practice), the easier it was to read for fun -- it was no longer work.
• The easier it was to read for fun, the more enjoyable reading was, causing it to become something they wanted to do.
• ...and a family of children who caught the "reading bug" was born.

The freebie for this Friday is an awesome little reading list for you to fill out and keep track of what books you've read and when. I find it helpful for goal setting, record keeping, and so forth. I based it on the sheets we get at our libary, for use year round.

Download your Reading List here.

There's a fantastic post over at GettingFreedom.net called Extremely Free, about extreme ways of becoming debt free. Her suggestions may help anyone in that situation have some more ideas for becoming debt free.

Coming up here really soon, I'll be judging a local art contest, and as such, I get to have one piece of my artwork hanging up(Find out more about this contest here!. The kids are bummed out, because I told them that if I'm a judge this is one art show they can't enter. Here I think a couple of them thought they were shoe-in's for sure!

The idea of finding something to hang up was a little strange for me because most of my art nowadays is digital or nature sketching, not "gallery stuff". ;) But I do still have a passion for photography, and I took (and manipulated) the following photos just for my own personal home decor, which the family all loves very much. My kids also love taking photos and using PhotoShop too.

This particular series of photos really started when wee little Esther came to me holding a chamomile flower in her hand, and I took a photo of it. Originally I was thinking...okay, I'll just edit the dirty fingers of my garden worker out of the photo of the otherwise pristine chamomile. I feel like most of the photos of my kids are taken when they are dirty in some way...mud on faces, dirty shirt on, etc. But somehow the dirty fingers really add to the picture, and after photoshopping you really can't tell too much. I loved the shot so much, that it became part of the button banner for this site (grab one off the side there----->)

Then Ruth came to me with a rose in her hands, and I took a photo of that. The only problem is, a few people pointed out that this looks like the photo on the cover of some book that seems to be popular right now but which I didn't read because I'm not into vampires.

I did it in antique shading too.

There's also a photo of my clematis with a monochromatic background.

and some weed that Isobel found, which is actually rather pretty, with dirty fingers as the background again.

Of course violas are also nice too, aren't they?

Which do you like best? Leave a comment below and let me know, please!

So, how does your garden grow? We are making some progress, though at this point the weeds have been giving a valiant effort to maintain control! I am so thrilled about the strawberries I've been seeing on all 200 of my strawberry plants!

I tend to be a big believer in the idea of "never stop learning". When I need to know something, I usually go and find a book, website, or some other source to help me learn, if I don't know someone who can help me. It seems sometimes like I'm forging a new path, learning and growing in areas that I didn't really learn growing up (such as gardening, canning, and frugal cooking), so I'm always looking for some great resources.

I want to just bring to your attention one of my favorite FREE resources for gardening know how. It's the Home Depot Garden Club. At first, I assumed I'd just be sent a bunch of ads for outdoor furniture I can only afford when it goes out of style and someone sells it to me from their garage sale :P. Instead, I've discovered a wealth of information in their newsletter. This past week, they had a few articles on growing roses, which I found very useful for the roses I have growing around my yard (planted mostly by the former owner of this house). They've also recently had articles on container growing, growing vegetables, and troubleshooting plant diseases. Sign up for the newsletter, and you'll start getting all kinds of tips, and some notices of different things going on sale (mostly garden tools and gardening items), and exclusive sales notices from the Home Depot Garden Club. They also have some regional advice too.